


j(ean)ws

by seriouslyeveryothernamewastaken



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Day At The Beach, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-18
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-23 21:21:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/931223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seriouslyeveryothernamewastaken/pseuds/seriouslyeveryothernamewastaken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>everyone is alive and happy so Erwin decides to take the recon corps on a field trip to the beach</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The bus chugged down the winding road towards the dusty parking lot as the sound of many voices in varying levels of excitement filtered out of the windows.

“I can’t believe Commander Smith approved this Recon Squad field trip!” Armin smiled as he turned away from the bus window to look at his companions. He, Eren and Mikasa had all managed to squeeze into one bus seat and were enjoying sharing the same oxygen for the past two hours. “This is going to be perfect!”

Eren tried to nod enthusiastically while squished between the other boy and Mikasa. “You don’t have to tell me, Armin. I brought all the snorkeling and diving gear I could scrounge up. I am going to see a shark today if it’s the last thing I ever do!” His face contorted into the now familiar expression, and Armin nodded at him encouragingly.

“I’m sure you’ll see something interesting…just make sure you’re careful. I know you’re used to killing titans and turning into a bloodthirsty murder machine but it’s probably for the best if you just observe this time instead of trying to kill all the sharks you see.” Armin cocked his head. “Also, do you even know how to swim?”

“Don’t worry,” Mikasa piped up from her seat half in the aisle. She held up a bag filled with inflatable floaties and swimming noodles. “I made sure we were well prepared.”

“Ha! Mikasa, you are so funny. I was practically born underwater.” Eren slapped her back. “Just you wait. I’ll be the best swimmer slash shark hunter out there. And I won’t need you to save me this time! Because I definitely know how to swim!”

He continued to go on loudly about his upcoming adventures as Armin exchanged a matching look with Mikasa, slipping her the boxed innertube he had brought.

 

A few seats back, Reiner and Bertholt were sitting together and rifling through the gym bag on Bert’s lap.

“What’s in there?” Connie’s head popped over the seat in front of them.

“Oh…it’s…wait-“ Bertholt started as Reiner held up one of the bag’s contents.

“Bert’s stash of speedos!” Reiner announced proudly (and loudly). He held the maroon scrap of fabric close to Connie’s face so he could see the suit’s superior craftsmanship. After what he deemed an appropriate amount of time Reiner neatly folded the suit and placed it back in the bag. Connie’s face was frozen in horror.

“Why the fuck do you have a collection of banana hammocks?! Wait.” Connie narrowed his eyes at the two in front of him. “Is this like a gay thing?”

“NO IT’S NOT,” Bert announced loudly, and then lowered his voice. “I used to swim for our town’s swim team when I was younger.” 

Reiner beamed widely at Bert. “He was the best swimmer in our district for three years straight. I thought this trip would be a good chance for him to stretch his fins out after all this time. Give it another chance!”

Bert began to sweat nervously as the small boy continued to peer at him suspiciously. “Okay…” Connie decided finally. “I guess that makes sense. I wanna see some of your swimming skills in action, though.” He continued to stare Bert down as he retreated back behind his own seat.

Reiner cheerfully zipped up the gym bag and leaned into his boyfriend’s personal bubble, oblivious to Bert’s sweatiness. “You’re gonna do great.” He turned to face Bert, grinning lecherously. “And I bet you’re gonna look great too.”

 

At the front of the bus Commander Erwin Smith turned the teenager-laden vehicle into the beach’s abandoned parking lot. He glanced into the surveillance mirror to look at Levi and Hanji in the seat behind him. “Are you two ready for this?”

Hanji’s exuberant “YES!” almost completely drowned out Levi’s sigh of despair, but Erwin was able to catch his eyeroll in the mirror.

“Levi, it’ll be fine. It’s only for a few hours. Just read a book or something to pass the time.”

“Come on! There are so many things we can do today!” Hanji bumped his shoulder as they bounced up and down in excitement. “Just think of all the sea life…” Their voice trailed off dreamily.

Levi groaned and turned back to Erwin. “Can’t I just take the bus back into town and wait until you people are done?”

“Absolutely not. This will be a good experience for you, I promise.” Erwin ran a hand through his hair and stood up as much as he could in the cramped bus. “Okay. Here we go.”

“PEOPLE!” He called out loudly. All conversation in the bus stopped as everyone turned to their commander turned chaperone. “We’re here. All I ask of you today is to stay within sight of the beach and to act like civilized representatives of the Recon Corps. Other than that…” He looked down at Hanji and Levi who were nodding encouragingly and frowning, respectively. “…have a nice day.”

He hopped out of the bus right before a stampede of strapping young Recon scouts flooded out of the bus in the general direction of the beach.

Levi watched them all head out and shook his head. “God save us all.”


	2. Chapter 2

The sun shone down on the clear ocean water and the people scattered across the beach. Everyone had set up their towels and umbrellas and most were beginning their beachtime activities.

“Mikasa! I think I’ll be fine for now…Armin help me!” Eren hissed at the blonde boy while trying to escape Mikasa and her bottle of SPF 200.

“Eren, you know how badly you burn. It’s better safe than sorry,” Mikasa reprimanded him, holding him in a headlock to spread more sunblock on his back. “Armin, will you be joining us in the water for a bit?”

Armin shook his head and squinted up at her from his seat on the ground. “I was going to read for a little bit before going in. And Christa asked me if I wanted to help her make a sandcastle, so I might go do that  
for a while too.”

Craning his head to look at Armin, Eren gave him a wide eyed look. “Armin, I want you to know that there’s nothing to be afraid of. The ocean may be vast and unexplored, but Mikasa and I will make sure that nothing will harm you. I will defend you from whatever may emerge from the deepest depths-“

“Ah! It’s fine,” Armin laughed. “I’m sure Mikasa-and you-will have your hands full without me.” He exchanged a meaningful glance with Mikasa. “Just watch out for each other out there.”

“Oh, we will.” Mikasa popped the innertube over Eren’s head and began to push him towards the water. “Don’t have too much fun without us, Armin.”

Armin chuckled as he waved to the two, and then promptly turned and flopped down onto his large towel. He pulled out a huge book and slipped on some sunglasses. “Let’s get down to business.”

 

Further down the beach, Jean and Marco had finally found a good spot to lay their towels. “Finally,” Jean huffed. “I swear, everyone around here is so lazy. They’d be happy sitting next to a garbage dump if it meant not having to walk too far.” He glanced over at Marco. The other boy had just finished fixing their big umbrella.

“There we go,” he grinned. Turning to face Jean, he shucked off his t shirt and looked at Jean expectantly. “Are you ready to go in?”

Jean tried not to stare too much as he began to take off his own shirt. Marco was _ripped_. He put down his own shirt and cleared his throat. Twice. “So,” he started as they headed towards the water. “You don’t look half bad. Been working out more?”

“Yep! I asked Corporal Levi to give me some exercise tips. I’m glad you noticed!” Marco glanced at Jean. “If you want, I can show them to you later. I’m sure you’d get just as good results.”

Jean blinked a few times. “Er, yeah, sure…I guess.”

“Well, we can talk about it later. The water is calling!” Marco grabbed Jean’s hand and dragged him down into the surf. Jean emerged from the water sputtering and cursing, but relaxed when he saw Marco laughing happily.

 

“Christa…where the hell did you put the chips?” Ymir was rifling through one of the many bags Christa had insisted they bring along on the trip.

“They should be in the bag with with the beach ball,” Christa called from her position next to a steadily growing sand fort. It was already about 2 feet tall and featured a nice sturdy wall to keep any intruders out.

“All I can find in the bag is fucking lipgloss and tampons…” Ymir muttered. “How hard is it to make potato chips easily accessible, riddle me that-oh, found em.” She walked over to the blond girl and settled down next to the fort. One of her wayward feet kicked a hole through the fort’s wall. “Oops.”

Christa glared at her. “Was that really necessary?”

“Is your face really necessary?”

“Shut up.” Christa turned back to her building.

Ymir repeated her in a higher voice. “Shut up!”

Silently, Christa seized Ymir’s bag of chips and dumped a handful of sand into it. Ignoring the other girl’s cry of rage, she stood up and began walking away. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Ymir glared at her retreating back and kicked over the remains of the fort.

 

Hanji was clad in full snorkeling gear, with (prescription) goggles hanging off their neck and bodysuit still damp from an earlier exploration. “Levi, look what I found!”

“Don’t you dare bring it near me.” A voice emerged from the tent that stood in front of Hanji. They could only see Levi’s silhouette through the zippered door, but it appeared as though he was lounging on some sort of cot.

“Oh come on…you’re at the beach! Incredible wildlife! Radiant sunshine and waves! You can’t spend all day cooped up in some stuffy little tent!” Hanji craned their head to look in. “Do you have a fan going in there?”

Levi shifted inside the tent. “Maybe. Shut up. The beach is filthy. There is fish shit everywhere and I know for a fact that Braus is most likely peeing in the water. You couldn’t drag me out even if there was a titan ready to devour this tent.”

Hanji rolled their eyes and turned to Erwin for support. “Erwin, back me up here.”

The tall man looked up from the mini grill he was basting a steak on. “Believe me, it’s not even worth trying. He already used the excuse that the harsh midday sun would ruin his milky white complexion. He’s not backing down.”

“Fine.” Hanji poked a finger into the fabric of the tent. “I will find someone else to explore with. For now. Mark my words, you will come out of this tent today.” They turned on their heel and left.

From inside the tent came a derisive laugh. “Not in a million years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i highly recommend reading this while listening to the jurassic park soundtrack.  
> also marco is really hard to write please forgive me,,,,,  
> thanks again to reiish for betaing!  
> also thank you all so much for the kudos! i'm glad people are enjoying this so far


	3. Chapter 3

Armin sighed happily. After years of battling bloodthirsty titans and finally cracking the incredible mystery behind their purpose and existence, it was really nice to lay back with a nice book and just relax. No stress, just him and the open beach. What more could he ask for?

“Arlelt!” Someone skidded to a stop in front of Armin, causing a spray of sand to coat him and his belongings.

“Oh hi, Hanji,” Armin shook the sand out of his hair. “What’s up?”

Hanji smiled (a little too) widely down at Armin. “We’re going snorkeling. Here you go!” They tossed goggles and a snorkel into his lap. “Suit up. I’ve heard that the marine life around here is some of the richest on the coast and I refuse to miss out.”

Armin’s eyes lit up. “Wait. Is this the area you mentioned with the star shaped animals?”

“Yes! And supposedly there are five varieties of seaweed that grow near rock formations like the ones to the west.”

Throwing his book on top of his bag, Armin jumped up and stretched the goggles around his head. “Then count me in. Lead the way!”

With a whoop Hanji grabbed Armin’s hand as they both sprinted towards the water. “Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll see a sea cucumber!” they cheered.

 

“How are you feeling?” Reiner asked Bert as the taller boy continued to stretch his limbs on the sand. “Think you’ll be okay swimming after so long?”

“I think it’ll be nice to get into the water after such a long time,” Bert groaned as he shifted his stretching to the other leg. “I probably won’t be going that fast this time though.”

Connie watched them with a critical eye. “How are you gonna swim? Like on your back, or on your side, or-“

Bert shook his head. “I like to glide underwater, like on my stomach…I have to come up for air but whenever I swam back home I would try and cruise underwater as much as I could and then just surface for air.”

“He can hold his breath for a really long time, let me tell you…” Reiner bragged.

Connie began to cough violently as Bert turned to frown at the tall blond and shook his head very slowly.

“Anyway,” Connie said as he finally stopped coughing. “When are you gonna start?”

Bert looked out towards the ocean and shielded his eyes from the sun. “I think now is good…there’s no strong wind and it’s nice and warm. Perfect for swimming.” He rose to his feet and stretched fully one last time.

Reiner and Connie both tried to avert their eyes from Bert’s purple speedo. They both failed.

“All right, let’s go.” Bert began to stride towards the ocean with the two other boys in tow. “I’ll have to go a few meters out to be able to get the right depth,” he called to them over his shoulder. “But you guys should be able to see me from the shore when I come up.”

“Sounds good!” Reiner stopped at the water’s edge and plopped down right where the surf began. Connie sat down next to him, keeping his eyes trained on Bert’s retreating figure.

Bert waded in and kept going until he was treading water. He gave Connie and Reiner a thumbs up, and then disappeared under the water.

A couple of seconds later Connie yelled, “There he is!” A dark head was just visible above the water a few meters away from where Bert had gone under. He kept watching Bert barely surfacing before gliding back down. “Wow, he really is pretty good.”

“Yup, that’s Bert for you,” Reiner nodded. He was busy wiggling his toes under the wet sand and watching the surf pull the sand back. With a huff he laid back and covered his face with his arms. “Wake me up when he starts heading back this way.”

“You’re just going to sleep here?!”

Reiner managed to shrug despite his position. “’S not like we’ll be able to see him all the way over on the other side of the beach. Might as well get some R and R while I’m waiting.”

Connie rolled his eyes and stalked off to find the boogie board that Sasha had stolen from him earlier. He didn’t intend to spend this entire trip without catching some sick waves.

 

Ymir had managed to shake all the sand out of her chips and was currently lying out on the sand in a food coma (which was also brought on by the three sandwiches and bag of cookies Christa had packed). She was just about to drift off into a blissful dream when a voice hissed right into her ear.

“Ymir! Ymir, wake up right now! I need your help.”

She opened her eyes to Christa’s panicked face hovering above her. “What the fuck do you want?” Ymir groaned. “I’m sleeping.”

Christa began to shake her shoulder. “Don’t! This is an emergency, ok?”

Ymir sat up. “Then what is it?”

“The bathroom.” Christa nodded her head in the direction of the port-a-potty a few yards away. “Someone took a dump and I can’t pee in there, ok? And I’m starting to feel a little desperate, if you catch my drift.”

“Well what do you want me to do about it? I am not going to clean out that thing just so you can go piss like a princess.”

The blonde girl rolled her eyes. “Of course not. I want you to keep watch.”

“What?”

“You heard Corporal Levi. The ocean is disgusting and filled with filth. I’m sure if I went in there it would be fine,” Christa explained breathlessly. “I just want you to come with me and stand guard so nobody comes near and finds out that I had to pee in the ocean, ok?”

Sometimes Ymir couldn’t believe the life she was living. “I can’t believe this life I’m living.”

Christa grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. “Stop whining and come on. The sooner we-I mean I-go, the sooner you can get back to your nap.”

 

“Okay, Eren. All you need to do now is let go of my hands and start paddling your arms and legs to keep afloat. We’re not too far out so if you mess up you’ll able to feel the bottom.” Mikasa paused for a moment to make sure that Eren had understood her instructions, and then shook his hands off of hers.

Eren had his face screwed up in concentration. As soon as he was free of Mikasa he began to splash his arms violently, trying to keep himself afloat.

“Smoother, Eren! And keep your hands underwater.”

With a cry he shoved his arms down and started moving them in a more controlled manner.

“Now your legs!”

Eren kicked a little bit and then moved his legs smoothly. He was swimming without any human or flotational aid! “I’ve got it! I’m swimming, Mikasa!” With a wide smile he started doggy paddling around her. “How do I look?”

Mikasa watched him circling around her. “Not too bad. You caught on pretty quickly.”

“I know!” he grinned. “I think all it takes is a little determination and a good teacher. Thanks, by the way!”

“Any time.”

With a happy yell, Eren stuck his head underwater and began to doggy paddle some more. Mikasa chuckled as she watched him swim around with his head submerged. “Don’t forget to come up for air,” she called to him.

With a contented sigh, she turned to glance back at the beach. Her fellow soldiers were scattered around, some sunbathing and others playing around in the sea. Situated in the most central location she could see Erwin battling a flaming grill and hear Levi’s irritated voice snapping at him from inside his tent.

“Mikasa! Stay there, I think I just saw something!” Eren’s voice sounded like it was far away. Mikasa snapped her head back to see that he was quite a distance away from her and swimming quite determinedly after something causing a big ripple in the water. “I can see it, Mikasa! I found a shark!”

“Eren, no!” Mikasa began to swim towards him as fast as she could, but the current was making it difficult for her to get to him. “Just wait there, I’ll come get you!”

Stopping to catch his breath, Eren looked back at his friend and marveled at how far away she had gotten. “Don’t worry! I’ll just go after this bad boy and then we can…“ He splashed his arms a bit and realized how far out he was. “Fuck! Help! Mikasa, can you-“

Mikasa watched with horror as Eren struggled to keep his head up and then slipped underwater.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> c c c cliffhanger  
> christa and ymir have no filters with each other sorry (not really)  
> thank you so much for the kudos and feedback!! it means a lot that i know people are actually reading this too  
> much thanks to reiish for betaing again

**Author's Note:**

> bonjour! i hope you enjoyed, this is mainly spawned from a series of headcanons i came up with while at the beach.  
> special thanks to tumblr user reiish for betaing this for me!  
> i'll hopefully get ch 2 up soon(along with more characters and breathtaking plot twists)(maybe)  
> any comments/criticism is greatly appreciated!


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